Tech Women: Global Women's Journey

Description

For March, we are partnering with BayBrazil, GABA-Women in Business, and WITI.

Women continue making significant progress across the world. A recent World Bank study concluded that women have been responsible for 30% of Latin America’s extreme poverty reduction.

Two of the world’s largest economies have been under women’s command: Angela Merkel, in Germany, and Dilma Rousseff, in Brazil. In the US, the 2013 Congress made history with a record number of women: 20 in the Senate, 81 in the House.

Around the globe, highly educated and ambitious women are pouring into the labor market. In the next ten years, more than one billion women are expected to enter the workforce or start their own businesses. Analysts predict that Gen Y women will outnumber men in the professional workforce. In emerging markets, women are expected to be the dominant force taking on increased leadership and expanding their roles in upper management. According to the Center for Women’s Business Research, 10.1 million firms in the U.S. are owned by women and one in five firms with revenue of $1 million or more is woman-owned.

Our Global Women’s Journey series has been featuring inspiring discussions with foreign-born female leaders who are rising to the top as entrepreneurs, middle or upper level managers.

On March 14th, join BayBrazil, GABA, SVForum & WITI to hear the stories of women leaders who have made it in the diverse Silicon Valley. Celebrate the international women’s day and learn how women are progressing regardless of race and ethnicity.

Anna is a senior globalization expert, and an activist not only in the field of localization. Her background encompasses 20 years of leading international web teams, localization and global engagement teams at VMware, Acclaro, VeriSign, Xerox and Cisco. Anna is a co-founder of Women in Localization and "Imagine Educating Everyone." She is a native of Catalonia, and holds a Masters in German Philology from the University of Berlin and is fluent in six languages.

Marie has devoted her career to improving customer experience. At eBay, Marie's team designed the future vision for eBay Marketplaces commerce, as well as delivered a comprehensive redesign of the eBay Marketplaces experience, including a visual refresh and new logo launch. Marie's team is now focused on designing eBay Marketplaces' local, mobile, and disruptive innovation experiences.

Marie has been in the high-tech industry since 1989. Her prior affiliations include Intuit, Nielsen Norman Group, Lotus Development, Dun & Bradstreet Software, and University of California at Berkeley. She is co-author of the best-selling 2002 book "Homepage Usability: 50 Websites Deconstructed" and has spoken and taught around the world on customer research methodologies and design.

Nayla draws on a wealth of diverse global experience to provide clients with executive search and consulting expertise. A member of the Technology, Communications & Media Practice and former leader of the practice in North America, she has placed key executives at a wide range of companies, from startups to Fortune 100 firms. Nayla began her career as an operations research analyst for Chevron U.S.A. in San Francisco. Her interest in foreign policy has inspired her participation and leadership roles with a variety of organizations, including the Council on Foreign Relations and World Affairs Council of Northern California. She is currently on the board of TechWadi, an organization fostering entrepreneurship in the Middle East and North Africa. Nayla is a member of the Harvard Business School‘s California Research Center board. She graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Science in operations research and industrial engineering, and received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. She is fluent in French and Arabic and speaks conversational Spanish

Sylvie is a French-born entrepreneur, with a rich multicultural and multidisciplinary background. A former professional ballerina and robotics researcher, she eventually found a happy middle ground in entrepreneurial ventures. A 20-year Silicon Valley veteran, Sylvie started her tech career at Oracle and Sun Microsystems, before working for a number of startup companies. Sylvie is Founder/CEO of Tech Atelier, a full-service creative and strategy agency, and writes a popular blog on connecting the dots between art, science and technology. She has been published in numerous publications, including Huffington Post, TED Weekends, Venture Beat, and Vator News. Sylvie holds a Masters degree in management science from Stanford University, a Masters degree in computer science from France, and a gold medal in ballet.

Moderator:

Shana Lynch, Managing Editor of the Silicon Valley Business Journal

Shana oversees digital content for the business publication. Previously she was an editor with the Sacramento Business Journal, guest commentator for Capital Public Radio, and also ran internal documentation for a web startup through the University of Missouri, Columbia’s Center for Technological Innovation in Education, now known as the Allen Institute.